


In the Clamor and the Clangor

by joy_peace_blooms



Series: 2020 Wranduin Christmas Prompts [2]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Annoying Christmas Music, Christmas Lights, Christmas prompts, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Stormwind City, Stormwind Shenanigans, The Feast of Winter Veil, Wrathion Can Deal with Old God Insanity but Not This, very short story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28333326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joy_peace_blooms/pseuds/joy_peace_blooms
Summary: Anduin learns the hard way not to let gnomes with atotally great ideahelp decorate Stormwind for Winter Veil.Written for the 2020 Christmas Wranduin prompt "Christmas Lights."
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Wrathion/Anduin Wrynn
Series: 2020 Wranduin Christmas Prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072502
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	In the Clamor and the Clangor

**Author's Note:**

> Bending the prompt "Christmas Lights" a little to include Christmas music as well.
> 
> I borrowed the title and the plot for this story from an episode of Gilmore Girls. Yes, I know it's silly, but it was really fun to write XD

This time it was his fault that he and Wrathion were fighting, and it had all started with the stupid lights.

"Could you explain it just once more? In plain Common?" asked Anduin sitting in front of a set of indecipherable blueprints.

"It's a lights display hooked up to a sound system to be set up in the Cathedral of the Light," sighed the gnome who had just spent the better part of an hour explaining the brilliant devices in detail. "I can also program it to have the cathedral's bells play along!"

"I suppose it does sound... festive. And it won't cost anything?"

"Nothing at all, your majesty! Consider it a Winter Veil gift to the city!"

Apparently, the plans were something Geblin Mekkatorque had come up with and stashed somewhere for his apprentices to find. They were hoping to surprise the newly crowned King of the Gnomes by having the blueprints actualized.

It had seemed like an easy diplomatic win, so Anduin had approved. Once Winter Veil started, the apprentice gnome and his team set up their equipment to have holiday songs played throughout Stormwind at the beginning of every hour accompanied by what he had described as "a lights display that's sure to dazzle!"

It was fine at first, beautiful even. The lights and music were a delight to the citizens of Stormwind, especially the children.

However, what the gnome had failed to mention was that the system was programmed to play music and flashing lights _even at night._

"Can't it be turned down? Just a little?" asked Anduin first thing the next morning after fruitlessly trying to sleep through it.

"The plans didn't seem to include a volume adjuster, but I'll see what I can do," was the very unsatisfactory answer that he was given.

 _Easy diplomatic win... what was I thinking?_ Geblin was due to visit the city in a few days, so it would be an insult to order the lights taken down early. However, he wasn't sure how much longer the citizens of Stormwind would put up with it.

The answer to how long Wrathion would put up with it was precisely one day and fifteen hours. It was three in the morning on the second night when the lights reflected from outside made the royal bed-chamber look like a disco and a high-pitched gnomish child started singing about their two front teeth.

"I'M GOING TO BURN STORMWIND TO THE GROUND!" roared the dragon as he shot out of bed.

"Wrathion shut up! Someone's going to hear you!" Anduin rolled over, giving up trying to muffle the sound of the song with a pillow.

"I don't care! What are they going to do? Take my threat seriously? Send a group of champions to kill me? THAT WOULD BE PREFERABLE!" he shouted.

Anduin threw his pillow at the pacing dragon who snatched it out of the air.

"Anduin, come on, let's get out of here! I'll take you on my back and we can find an inn somewhere far away from this noise. We can spend Winter Veil well-rested!"

The music and lights finally stopped. For a little while.

"City razing and monarch abduction? For a black dragon, I have to say you're not very original," grumbled Anduin.

Wrathion went back over to the bed and whacked him with the pillow. "I'm serious! Take Winter Veil off! Let me take you somewhere, anywhere that's not here."

Anduin sat up and glared at him. It was the same argument they always had. "You know I can't do that, especially at this time of the year! There are certain expectations and traditions a king must follow!"

"Humans and your traditions!" Wrathion shook his head. "You always follow tradition! You always say you're going to take time off, but you never do!"

"I'm the king! It's a little difficult!"

"You're the king! You should be able to break the rules every once and a while! Anduin, please, I can't stand this much longer! I don't want to go without you, but I will if it means getting away from this accursed torture!"

"Don't be so dramatic. It's not torture."

"Keeping your victim from sleeping _is_ a form of torture!"

Anduin huffed and rolled away from him. There was no point in arguing, and he was only wasting the precious minutes between the hours that could be used trying to sleep. Besides, both of them were irritated and there was nothing either of them could say to convince the other.

Why was it that fights always seemed to happen at three in the morning?

* * *

The next day, Anduin was sitting at his desk trying to keep his eyes open when his spymaster walked into the office and handed him a request for leave.

He stared at the papers in Mathias Shaw's hand with his mouth open.

" _You're_ taking leave?! You never take time off!"

The rogue's expression grew worried. "I assure you I've made sure everything will run just as smoothly in my absence. If you prefer, I could shorten the time--"

"No! No, I'm just surprised is all," said Anduin as he flipped through the papers. "Light, you're only asking for three days! Shaw you could ask for three months and I would approve it..." He immediately picked up his pen and signed the form. "I hope you enjoy your time off."

"Thank you, your majesty. I'm looking forward to getting out of Stormwind for a while."

Anduin sighed. "I don't blame you. If I may ask, where are you planning on going?"

"I actually don't know yet. Captain Fairwind wanted it to be a surprise."

That answer earned Shaw another flabbergasted look from his king.

"And you _trust_ him with that?!"

A small smile tugged at the corners of the spymaster's lips. "Yes. I do."

Anduin laughed and shook his head in amazement. "Well, I can't wait to hear about it. Have a good time! And Happy Winter Veil!"

* * *

If Mathias Shaw of all people could bend a little, then so could he.

It was midnight and the last notes of an annoying song about wanting to be home for Winter Veil had just faded. Wrathion hadn't come up to bed yet so Anduin put on a dark cloak and went to find him.

The dragon was sitting at his desk in the room of the keep he'd established as his office. He had his head down in a stack of papers. Anduin guessed he was going through some of his Blacktalon reports.

The king leaned against the door jamb. "Want to help me break the lights?"

Wrathion's head jerked up in surprise.

"I thought you said getting rid of them would cause a diplomatic incident."

Anduin shrugged. "Maybe if the King of Stormwind ordered it... but if a couple of intrepid vandals decided to take things into their own hands..."

"Let's go."

Sneaking out of the keep and making their way to the cathedral was made easy by Wrathion's shroud of concealment. Anduin led them to a back door he knew was not often used.

Wrathion ran into the locked door with an indignant noise. "What, seriously?! Why would you lock a church? What if I need to do something holy?"

"Like commit vandalism?"

"Tch. Do you have a way to get in?" asked Wrathion.

"It's just a normal lock, can't you pick it?"

Wrathion stared at him.

"I mean I _can_... but just so we're clear, you, Anduin Wrynn, want me to break into the Cathedral of the Light?"

"Yes."

Wrathion laughed and got to work.

"I have to admit, it feels wrong breaking into a church. Is the Light going to smite us for this?"

Anduin snorted. "The only smite risk you need to worry about right now is me."

They were fortunate that no one seemed to be around. Every room and hallway they went down was dark and they heard no movement besides their own.

After climbing the twisting steps to the top of the bell tower, they entered an alcove filled with the sound of humming equipment. There was a large battery powering the entire machine with wires and boxes everywhere. A countdown timer was set in the center of the main mechanism. Anyone who hadn't know better would probably think it was some sort of convoluted explosive device.

"We have about thirty minutes before something starts playing again. We need to figure out how to break it before then."

"Agreed," said Wrathion. "I'd like my eardrums intact. This shouldn't be too hard. We could just blast the--"

"No blasting! I'd like to be a generation of Wrynn that _doesn't_ have to rebuild this place."

"Fine then, what do you suggest?"

Anduin looked around and spotted a toolbox on the floor nearby. He went over to it and pulled out a pair of wire clippers. "First we disconnect the battery so we don't electrocute ourselves. I should be able to do that from what I remember of the blueprints. Then we clip a few of the connections and free the cathedral bells. Do you think you could heat some of these sound boxes a little? Just enough to fry the insides, but not so much that anything looks wrong on the outside?"

Wrathion grinned. "Of course."

"That should be enough to keep them busy with repairs past Winter Veil," said Anduin and went to work unhooking the battery.

"Who knew my good priest had such a devious mind."

Anduin shot him a look. He opened his mouth to snipe back, but then snapped it closed at the sound of the stairs creaking below. A moment later, the face of High Priestess Laurena illuminated by a lantern came into view.

"King Wrynn?! Prince Wrathion?!"

Her gaze slid from their dark cloaks to the wire clippers in Anduin's hand and a look of realization crossed her face.

"Oh praise the Light! Carry on! I was never here."

Then she turned on her heel and went back down the stairs from whence she came.

The two men exchanged conspiratorial looks and then went back to vandalizing.

When they were done, they sat together on a ledge overlooking the city and watched 1 AM tick by on the stockade tower's clock. There was the simple chiming of the time and then blissful silence. The normal Winter Veil decorations put up by the citizens were beautiful from this vantage point. The streets were aglow with the illumination of the simple colorful strings of lights as well as the candles that flickered softly from many of the windows.

Anduin let out a contented sighed and put his head on Wrathion's shoulder.

"I'm sorry about all of this, and I'm sorry I never take any time off. I'm sure I can find a way to take a few days for the new year. Would you be willing to wait until then?"

"That sounds lovely," said Wrathion as he draped an arm around Anduin. "I'm sorry too for what I said before... about how you always follow tradition. It wasn't true."

"Oh?"

Wrathion leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "You did make _me_ your consort."

Anduin smiled and snuggled closer. "That I did."

**Author's Note:**

> Geblin shows up later and is like wait y'all actually tried those plans? Are you crazy?
> 
> Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!


End file.
